No one can deny the explanation of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم. If Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم said something in direct opposition with all Islamic scholarship, indeed the authority of the beloved of Allah would prevail. Therefore, if the Prophet defined khātam al-nabīyīn a certain way, his definition overtakes the definition provided by other commentators.
When two statements are placed directly adjacent to one another, there is an implied relationship between the two. For example, “I am a fast runner, one of the fastest on the team”. The two statements have complementary meanings and produce a logical flow. Next, consider two non-sequential statements placed adjacently, such as, “I am a fast runner; I love computers”. These two statements are unrelated and do not produce a logical flow.
The Prophet, being the best in speech, would not combine random, unrelated statements together. With this in mind, consider the following statement of Prophet Muhammad:[1]
وأخرج ابن
مردويه عن
ثوبان رضي
الله عنه قال: قال
رسول الله صلى
الله عليه
وسلم إنه
سيكون في أمتي
كذابون
ثلاثون كلهم
يزعم أنه نبي،
وأنا
خاتم النبيين
لا نبي بعدي
Ibn Marduweyah reported, with his chain on the authority of Thawban رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Indeed, there will arise in my Ummah thirty arch-liars, each of whom will claim to be a Prophet, and I am the seal of the Prophets, there will be no Prophet after me.”
If seal of the prophets really means best of the prophets, and no prophets after me really means no law-bearing prophets after me or no prophets in parallel to me, the Ahmadis must explain why the Prophet would place two unrelated statements adjacent to another statement that speaks about false prophets who will come to his nation. According to the Ahmadi understanding, this hadīth would be incoherent and illogical.
Next, consider the Islamic understanding of this hadīth. The Prophet warned that in the future, there will be false claimants to prophethood after him. In refutation of those false prophets, he told the Muslims that he was the seal of the prophets, meaning he was the last prophet. He further explains khātam al-nabīyīn by explicitly saying no prophets after me.
The Prophet himself explained the meaning of seal of the prophets as no prophets after me. The Islamic understanding is consistent and coherent, whereas the Ahmadi interpretation is disjointed and incoherent. This proves that Prophet Muhammadصلى الله عليه و سلم defined seal of the prophets to mean no prophets after me. He is the last prophet. There are no prophets after him, including Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
Questions to ask Murabbis
1. If the statements Seal of the Prophets really means Best of the Prophets, and No Prophets after him means there are No prophets that will bring forth or append to the law of Islam after him, then the true meaning of both of these statements are completely unrelated. Why would the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم and the companions put these two unrelated statements together?
2. If Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم combined these two statements together, does that show that indicate
[1] This hadīth was narrated many different times in different ways, but the general meaning remains to be the same.